Roleplay
A roleplay is a game people play on threads in the Roleplaying and Collaborative Worldbuilding forum that revolves around collaborative storytelling. It is distinguished from other activities of this sort in that every writer controls a single character in the story. It is not specific to NaNoWriMo YWP, nor do all NaNoers do it; however, many NaNoers enjoy it. The roleplay forum is one of the more popular ones on the site, and certainly the most active. A roleplay can have a predetermined plot, but it does not have to. Some roleplays require Book Form while others only require Script Form. Notable NaNo Roleplays For a list of roleplays, please see this page . Types of Roleplays NaNo roleplays generally fall into certain categories and tropes that repeat. Here are some of the most common ones. Fan roleplays: Canon fan roleplays: In these collaborative fanfictions, roleplayers loosely rewrite the plot of some story from media or a book, usually with canon characters. Non-canon fan roleplays: In these collaborative fanfictions, there is little pre-arranged plot besides sticking to the universe of a particular fandom. People roleplay with either canon or original characters. Romance roleplays: The main point of romance roleplays is to pair up characters so everyone can think it's adorable. Win-their-hearts roleplays: In this type of romance, writers state from the beginning who their character has xir eye on, while other romance roleplays are more free-range. Traditionally, the original poster of the thread has character/s whom everyone else's characters want to date or marry, but this is not always the case. Mysterious roleplays: Often in a roleplay, characters are brought by no choice of their own into a peculiar institution, a fantasy world, or something similar. The creator of the roleplay knows something about the situation the other writers do not, and the characters will have to figure out what's going on as the roleplay progresses. Other: Obviously, not every single roleplay falls into one of these categories. Many roleplays have a predetermined setting or group of characters (eg. a family reunion, a small town, a pirate ship's crew, or a high school) which evolves with a freer plot with the types listed above. Conventions and Rules Most roleplaying follows certain conventions and traditional rules. Someone creates the roleplay by making a new thread with a brief teaser describing the plot; a list of rules, often including a word to put in one's character form to prove one has read them; and a form to copy, paste, and fill out to introduce your RP character to your fellow writers. People fill out these forms, and when enough people have joined by filling out the forms, everyone starts roleplaying. Widely used roleplay rules include: "No bunnying or godmodding." This means controlling other people's characters, or even saying what their reaction is to something your character does. "Keep it G." Even if it doesn't say this, it's a SITE RULE. (Sometimes a roleplay creator will just write "follow site rules"; this means "be nice and keep it G".) "Make as many boys as girls." This typically occurs in heterosexual romance RPs. Category:Vocabulary Category:Roleplays Category:Forums